Since being forcibly invested by Cornwallis in Kolkata, the rhythm of Zhou Lang's plan has been disrupted, and what has bothered him the most since then is not how the company develops, but the purpose of the East India Company.

Zhou Lang didn't believe that the British (East India) Company's stake in the China (East India) Company was optimistic about the company's development prospects, if it was a different person, replaced by a Dutchman, Zhou Lang might think a little like this, but Cornwalli was essentially a politician and a soldier, and a British elite, and he would never put commercial interests above the interests of the entire country, and it was impossible for him to put the interests of the Chinese (East India) Company above the interests of the British (East India) Company, for the sake of the national interests of Britain, Cornwallis could not hesitate to harm the interests of the East India Company, and for the sake of the interests of the East India Company, Cornwallis would certainly not hesitate to damage the interests of the China (East India) Company.

Therefore, Kanghuali is not a reassuring investor, so finding out the true purpose of Kanghuali has always been a problem for Zhou Lang, but even in India, a person with a prominent position like Henry Pitt can't find out clearly, but he didn't expect to find out through an officer sent by Cornwall here in Zuoying.

On behalf of the East India Company, Cornwall forcibly took a stake in Zhou Lang's company, and the biggest purpose was definitely to control this company, so as to prevent the East India Company from having competitors, but this kind of big strategic goal was often meaningless, and Zhou Lang was more worried about the more direct tactical goals of the East India Company.

Through Colin's mouth, now Zhou Lang knows, that is, to occupy a commercial base.

This was at least one of the tactical objectives of the East India Company, and it was a very important one.

After figuring this out, many of the previous doubts were solved.

The British, who still have no doubts about the success of the Magalny mission, are convinced that they can outtake all their European rivals and be the first to open up the northern Chinese market, and have great confidence in occupying a trading base in the Zhoushan Islands. This is why Colin has been reluctant to clash with the local Qing army in Zuoying, for fear that such a move will anger the Chinese authorities and thus affect Magarny's political mission.

However, the location of the Zhoushan Islands in central China may not be clear to the British, but the basic understanding should be another. After all, the missionaries of the Ming Dynasty had drawn a complete map of the emperor of China, and even if a copy of the whole map of China was not kept in a Western library, then they must have a general map, otherwise the British would not have been able to pick so accurately, so they chose the Zhoushan Islands, which are located almost in the middle of the Chinese coast.

However, if the Zhoushan Islands were used as a base for the northward advance, there would not be a single relay station between the British merchant ships from the south to the Zhoushan Islands, and they could transport a large number of goods from northern China to Zhoushan, but if there was no base in the south, there would be a big problem in returning to India, either they would be willing to continue to look at the faces of the Portuguese in Macao, or they would have to open up a base by themselves.

But concerns about opening up commercial bases remain, and that is the fear of angering the Chinese government. So why did Colin suddenly change his attitude, he could not have received new instructions from the East India Company and Cornwall, and it could only be said that they had prepared accordingly beforehand, and under what conditions they could take risks.

Of course, Taiwan's geographical location cannot be compared with the geographical location of the Netherlands in Europe, but as a relay station of the Zhoushan Islands, it is simply better, this is an island, as long as it has naval advantages, it is very convenient to defend. But the British did not think of capturing the entire island, they knew very well what happened to the Dutch back then, and the risk of clash with the Chinese authorities was infinite if they occupied the entire island.

So what about having only one small port? It's a lot easier. But the water conditions of this port are secondary, and the most important thing is that it must be easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the left battalion completely echoed this condition, so when Colin easily attacked the left battalion, he immediately decided to be here.

In addition, why do you have to get Zhou Lang's support, this is also because of the risk, the power that Colin now has can kick Zhou Lang away, take action alone, and control the left battalion under the name of the East India Company, but in this way, the East India Company directly has a territorial dispute with China, if it is hung under the name of the China (East India) Company established by Zhou Lang, it will have an extra layer of guarantee and greatly reduce the risk.

I am afraid that Cornwally has taken this into account from the time of his forced shareholding, otherwise it is really difficult to explain why he would be interested in such a small company. Kang Wenli is not a hot-headed young magnat, and he does not care about commercial interests, and the prospects of Zhou Lang's company may not be better than those retail merchants who operate Chinese trade in India, but he chose Zhou Lang, the biggest reason is that Zhou Lang can provide a banner for the East India Company, a banner that can be fully utilized without the direct presence of the East India Company.

"I'm being used as a puppet!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Lang couldn't help but sigh.

At the same time, he finally figured out some other phenomena. For example, why after the shareholding, the East India Company was particularly concerned about the military strength of the Chinese company, if it was out of concern about the threat of piracy, it would have been enough to send a group of Indian mercenaries, but he sent sixty Hessian mercenaries, you must know that these Hessian mercenaries are elite troops even in Europe, and on the Indian battlefield, they are completely trump card troops.

Moreover, these mercenaries turned out to be all veterans, all of whom had rich war experience, and most of them had participated in the North American War, so it was obvious that these people were not only sent to China as security forces, but as officers.

Through Zhou Lang's hands, Cornwall planned to replicate the Indian model of the East India Company in China, that is, to use European officers to lead Chinese soldiers and form a military force.

After figuring out this information, Zhou Lang believes that this is his biggest gain during this time. Now he has figured out the East India Company's plans against him, but the East India Company is still unclear about Zhou Lang's plans against the East India Company.

But in terms of the balance of power, he is still too far behind the East India Company, so he must endure for a while, but he can't be a puppet all the time, otherwise he will have to shrink back from doing things, and the gap with the other party is already large, and if he can't let go, this gap is difficult to make up.

However, it is not difficult to change this situation, as long as it is cut off the puppet line that the East India Company uses to control itself, and this puppet line is the same as Colin sent by the East India Company to spy on him.

Therefore, Zhou Lang finally agreed to support Colin in taking military action, and he wanted to borrow the knife of the Qing army to cut off this puppet.